A Queen's Legacy
by Loridhhp
Summary: "Where to begin? I'm not quite sure, little one. I sit here at my desk, quill in hand, hoping to find words eloquent enough to convey my thoughts." Queen Idunn of Arendelle's journey as a mother leaves a legacy after her death that will forever change the lives of her daughters. Loosely connected series of one-shot chapters telling the story of motherhood, its joys and pain.


**Here is the first chapter of a new story from me. It will be a series of loosely based one-shots, so no cliffhangers to make you shake your fists at me if I don't update quickly enough. Lol. Life is very busy, but I've wanted to write a story from the queen's perspective for a long time. So join me as we take a journey through the imperfect world of motherhood as Queen Idunn learns life lessons to pass on to her beloved daughters. Prepare for anything...fluff, drama, angst (lots of angst ;)) and how one imperfect mother can change the lives of both of her daughters through the legacy she's left behind. Enjoy! Please leave a review. Oh! And the cover art in pastel belongs to me. I drew it. :) I own it. I don't own Disney or Frozen however, and I write for purely entertainment purposes. That's my disclaimer and I'm sticking to it! Lol!**

**A Queen's Legacy**

**Chapter 1: An Imprint On My Heart**

_Where to begin? I'm not quite sure, little one. I sit here at my desk, quill in hand, hoping to find words eloquent enough to convey my thoughts. I want to leave you with a legacy from me, your beloved and honored mother. A king leaves his legacy in noble deeds and the wisdom he imparts on his subjects, the people he has vowed to rule with strength, justice and honor. Your father, King Agdar, is a kind and wise king. I have taken marriage vows to love and honor him, to stand by him as a supportive wife and queen, and to bear him an heir to the throne of Arendelle. And now, as I await your birth, my precious little one, I pray that I will live up to those vows, especially the ones I make to you now._

_I know not if you will be a son or daughter, but I vow to love you with my whole heart. I can feel you kicking my ample belly now, as if you cannot wait to burst forth from my womb and greet the world. Your tiny hand leaves an imprint in my skin as if you are trying to press your little palm against mine. I press my hand over the raised imprint and soothe you. This cannot be! Where our hands touch I can feel cold, as if my flesh is being chilled from the inside! Oh, my sweet baby. Mama is here. You are safe and warm under my heart. Can you feel it beating?_

_There is so much I want to say to you. Although it is my duty as queen to provide an heir to the throne, it is an honor to be your mother. I have dreamed of being blessed with a child of my own for so long. I cannot wait to show you the world, to teach you about life and to help you prepare for the great responsibilities you will face as the future ruler of Arendelle. I can feel you, my child. Maybe it's a mother's intuition, but I can feel your beautiful soul. It won't be long now until your arrival. I cannot wait to meet you!_

_I have seen to it that the servants have prepared your nursery according to my wishes. I want everything to be perfect for you, little one. Only the finest silk and satin shall swaddle you and the softest down mattress shall you slumber on. Your cradle has been passed down from generation to generation with your papa being the last to sleep in it. It has been carved with such detail, including the royal crest, and the steadiest hand in the kingdom hand painted the rosemaling details. I personally commissioned a rocking chair to be crafted so that I may lull you to sleep. I refuse to have a wet nurse as other queens before me have chosen to do. My mother suckled me at her breast and I shall do the same for you. What better way to bond with you than to rock you as you take your nourishment from me?_

_It won't be long now, my precious one. I can feel the pangs of childbirth, yet I am not yet ready to alert your father. He has been so anxious as of late, as I suppose all fathers-to-be are. He has been in meetings all day, coming to me in between, a worried look on his face, to check on me. I have reassured him repeatedly that I am well and that my discomfort was due to your endless movement in my womb. I am not certain of how long I will be able to convince him of my well-being. My contractions are coming closer and closer and are getting stronger. I am sure he will see the grimace of pain on my face because I can no longer hide it._

_I'm sorry, little one, but I must continue this another time. I must alert your father and summon the midwife. It's time to bring you into the world._

Queen Idunn of Arendelle cried out in pain as she doubled over in front of her desk. The fluid from her womb ran down her legs and puddled on the beautifully orate rug in her study. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the edge of the desk to keep from crumpling to the floor in agony. When the pang subsided, she began to pace the floor, holding her swollen belly while trying her best to remember to breathe. The infant within her writhed and kicked; determined to make its entrance into the world.

Rushing from the room into the hallway, Idunn spotted a chambermaid carrying freshly laundered linens on her way to one of the guest bedchambers. She cried out as another contraction bore down upon her nearly sending her to her knees. The young woman was caught off guard and nearly dropped her load. Seeing the queen in obvious distress, the chambermaid rushed to her aid.

"Ingrid, please find Gerda," Idunn grunted, while grasping the young maid's shoulder to steady herself during her contraction. "Tell her to summon the midwife and inform my husband that the baby is coming right now."

"Yes, Your Majesty! Right away," Ingrid gasped, giving the queen as best a curtsey as one could with an armful of linens. "Might I assist you to your chambers first, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, I think that would be best," Idunn sighed, a small smile crossing her face as the contraction passed.

She held onto the chambermaid's elbow for support as the young woman slowly led her to her bedchambers. Once inside, Ingrid set down the linens and helped the queen undress and put on a nightgown. She turned down the bed and placed the extra linens down. Ingrid escorted the queen to the bed and helped her settle in. She placed several pillows behind the queen, who preferred a more inclined position, and gave a brief curtsey before swiftly exiting to attend to the urgent requests.

Idunn was left alone with her thoughts, her panting breaths sounding like thunder in her ears in the otherwise quiet room.

_Something is wrong! I can feel it. Oh, please, little one! You are kicking me so hard that my ribs feel as though they will break. I must be calm for the baby's sake. Being born is such a tremendous undertaking. Oh, Agdar where are you? I need you here. I need your strength._

The normally poised queen shrieked as a wave of intense pain ripped through her abdomen. She began to sob as she fisted the sheets and doubled over from the contraction. She heard a sound and looked up to see the door to her bedchamber fly open, nearly hitting the wall. Through her blurry vision she saw her husband dash toward her and drop to his knees at the side of the bed. He kissed his beloved wife tenderly, brushing the tears from her cheek as he placed a hand on her rock hard abdomen.

"Agdar…" Idunn sobbed, "I'm afraid. Something must be wrong. It hurts so much."

"Shhh…" Agdar soothed while gently caressing her swollen belly. "Gerda has gone to bring back the midwife."

"I feel like I need to push," Idunn grunted, her face red and beginning to perspire.

"Not yet, Your Majesty," came the reply, as a large matronly woman rushed into the room rolling up her sleeves. "I need to see if your womb has opened sufficiently to deliver."

Idunn watched as the midwife lifted the lower end of the sheet that draped her. She parted her legs further as the woman assessed her present condition. Her heart began to pound in her chest when she saw the woman gasp, eyes wide and mouth open.

"Your Majesty, I need to perform an emergency procedure on the Queen, with your permission," the midwife said as she quickly washed her hands in the nearby wash basin.

"What is it, Astrid?" Agdar gasped, with a look of horror on his handsome features. "What is wrong with my wife?"

"I knew something was wrong," Idunn cried. "The baby is fussing too much."

"Yes, Your Majesty, the infant is in distress," Astrid nodded, laying her hands on either side of the queen's abdomen. "It is in a breech position and not head down, which is the position for delivery. I need to manually turn the baby into the correct position so that it will exit the birth canal."

"Is there something I can do to help?" Agdar inquired, wiping the perspiration from his wife's brow.

"Actually there is," Astrid stated, her brow furrowed in concentration. "If you would, Sire, place your hands on Her Majesty's abdomen like this." Astrid showed the king how to place his hands on the opposite side of her own hands. "Now…when I say 'push' I want you to push as hard as you can. We are going to turn your baby until it is facing head down."

Astrid's gaze fell upon the panting queen. "This is going to be very painful I'm afraid, but I need you to breathe through it. It will take a number of tries because we are going to guide your infant into moving into a new position."

Queen Idunn nodded as she tried in vain to quell her tears and be strong for her baby. As the midwife gave the order, both she and Agdar began to press down deeply on Idunn's abdomen and the two of them pushed the resistant infant. The queen felt such agony at the combined pressure and her labor pains that she screamed. After about ten minutes of starts and stops, the baby was finally head down. Idunn wept as Agdar gently soothed the friction-reddened skin of her belly. He leaned down to plant a soft kiss near her navel.

"Now you be good for Papa and come out," Agdar whispered hoarsely to his wife's protruding abdomen. "Your mama can't wait to hold you. Don't be afraid, little one."

Idunn brushed a tear from her husband's cheek and gripped his hand tightly as her labor pains continued. The labor progressed normally and soon she was given the command to push. She was so exhausted and it seemed as if Arendelle's new heir was determined to stay ensconced within the comfort and safety of its mother's womb. Finally Idunn felt a release and Astrid began to rub her baby with a soft towel. She waited, holding her breath until…

The infant's tiny cries filled the room. "It's a girl!" Agdar announced, his face beaming with joy. "We have a daughter, a beautiful baby girl."

Idunn smiled through her tears and gave in to the exhaustion, falling into a deep sleep as her daughter was placed in her arms. She was awoken some time later by her newborn's soft wails. Idunn cracked open her heavy eyelids and looked to her side. Her husband was curled up next to her, a tiny smile on his sleeping face. Astrid was gone and the room was quiet save for the mewling of her tiny infant. The new mother looked down at the wriggling newborn in her arms and carefully unwrapped the blanket to see her precious daughter. She saw creamy pale, yet silky soft skin. Ten perfect fingers and ten tiny toes. She gasped at the platinum blonde fuzz covering her newborn's head and gently caressed the downy softness. Two eyes of the purest blue opened and gazed at her, the tiny rosebud mouth pouting.

"Oh! Well hello, my sweet baby girl," Idunn cooed, brushing a finger across her daughter's pink cheek. "You are so beautiful, do you know that? I was so hoping that you would be a girl. I wanted a daughter so much. You are a princess, and not just a princess but the future Queen of Arendelle. You will have great responsibilities one day, but for now you are just my precious little Elsa. I am your mama and that handsome man snoring next to us is your papa, the King of Arendelle. I was so worried when you had difficulty being born. I was afraid I would lose you before I had even met you!

"You'll have to bear with my, my sweet Elsa. I have never been a mother before. I will make a lot of mistakes. I almost lost you today. I can't let that happen again. I will protect you from harm. I promise that you can always come to me for guidance, for comfort, and I won't turn you away as my mother did me. My mother never made time for me and I was raised by nannies. You, my princess, will have a mama who will make time for you!"

Idunn noticed how Elsa reflexively rooted for her finger to suck on. "Are you hungry, little one?"

The queen unbuttoned her nightgown and bared her breast, offering it to the squirming infant in her arms. The child latched on and began to suckle, making soft sighing noises as she did. Idunn stroked her daughter's head, again marveling at the platinum fuzz. No one in her family had such pale blonde hair. She could feel the infant grasping her breast with her delicate tiny fingers as she nursed. As she snuggled with her daughter skin to skin, she noted that the baby seemed to be chilled, although she didn't shiver. The infant's skin was cool to the touch rather than the warmth she expected. She wrapped the blanket around Elsa as she held her close hoping the infant would warm up.

Idunn began to sing softly to her new baby. It was a lullaby her nanny used to sing to her when she was sad because her own mother was always too busy with her queenly duties. She wouldn't let her own daughter suffer the way she had. No, she would never abandon her child in favor of her duties as queen. Elsa would come first. She would never know the loneliness and isolation she herself had known.

Elsa continued to suckle at her mother's breast, her eyes closing from the weariness of being born. When she finished, she released with a pop and yawned contentedly. Idunn smiled, her eyes filled with tears of joy at her beautiful new daughter. She offered the infant her index finger and the baby wrapped her tiny hand around it and squeezed, holding on for dear life.

"Oh, Elsa, you have already left an imprint on my heart that will never fade," Idunn whispered. "I love you so much!"


End file.
